Document file and holder.



J. WILSON. DOCUMENT FILE AND HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.15, 1909.

959,282. Patented May 24, 1910.

JOSEPH WILSON, OF CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.

DOCUMENT FILE AND HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 24, 1910.

Application filed March 15, 1909. Serial No. 483,542.

To all :whom 'it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, JOSEPH WILSON, a

subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Christchurch, in the Province of Canterbury, New Zealand, have invented a new and useful Document File and Holder, of wh ch the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fillng devices for documents, letters, and other papers and particularly to those in which a clamp mounted on a base is used, this clamp being adapted to engage the papers placed beneath it and hold them to the base, the object of the invention being to provide a filing device of a very slmple character in which the clamp may be quickly and easily operated and when clamped is positively and rigidly held against movement. i

A further object is to so form the members of the clamp that the filemay be cheaply made and easily assembled.

The invention consists in a file having upstanding guide bars, a paper clamping plate and a standard-engaging device which, when operated, acts to bind against the standards in two directions.

In the drawings I have shown an embodiment of my invention, though I do not wish to be limited to this particular application thereof.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the complete file, with parts in clamped position; F g. 2 1s a transverse section through the middle of the file; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the base, showing the attachmentof the standards thereto; Fig. 4 s a plan view of the rotary clamping bar detached; Fig. is a transverse section of the paper-engaging plate on the line 55 of F 1g. 1; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view wlth ne of the standards in section and show ng the locking bar in its unlocked posltlon.

In the drawings, 2 denotes a base of composition, wood, or other appropriate material, upon which is mounted the opposed standards 3 connected preferably at their upper ends by the cross bar 4 which serves to hold the standards fixedly in spaced relation and also constitutes a handle for the device. The lower ends of the standards may be mounted in any desired manner upon the base, 2, but preferably the lower ends of the standards are bent inwardly at right angles as at 5, and inserted in pockets 6, which may be conveniently formed by attaching a strip 7 of any suitable material across the face of the base 2. As shown in Fig. 3 this strip is attached by means of rivets 8.

It is to be understood, of course, that the feet, 5, of the bars, 3, are tightly held to the base by the strips 7 Preferably the standards or posts 3 are notched along the inside faces, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, so as to provide for a better engagement with the clamping bar.

Mounted to move vertically upon the standards or posts 3 is a clamping plate, preferably formed with downwardly-turned edges, and preferably formed of two thicknesses of sheet metal, one thickness 9 constituting the inner portion of the plate and having the downwardly-bent lateral edges; and the other thickness 10 constituting the exterior face of the plate and having its lateral edges bent downwardly, inwardly and upwardly, as at 11 to bind around the lateral edges of the plate 9, thus forming the two thicknesses into one plate. The upper plate 10 of the binding element is formed with a longitudinally extending channel 12, along nearly its entire length, this channel, however, being cut away as at 13 and 14. The cut-away portion 14 is coincident with the projecting end or finger piece of a rotary locking bar, 16, to be later described, while the openings 13 are to permit the projection of locking enlargements upon said locking bar. In Fig. 6 a plan view is given, showing one of the cut-away portions 13 and also a recess 15 formed at the end of this slot or cut-away portion for the reception of the bar 3.

As will be seen from Fig. 5 it is only the plate 10 which is formed with a channel 12, the plate 9 extending across the under face of the channel. Within this channel 12 and between the two plates is received the looking bar 16, which is preferably made as shown in Fig. 4 of a relatively rigid wire,

which, at one end, is bent at right-angles as I as shown clearly in Fig. 4 and there are preferably two thicknesses of wire to each coil. These coils 18 project through the openings 13 in the channel and are adapted to contact with the standards or posts 3251-3 shown in Fig. 1.

When the bar 16 is turned into the positionshown in Fig. 6, the coils are moved out of engagement with the bar, but asthe bar 16 is rocked toward the position shown in Fig.

17 that when the cam devices are engaged with the standards, the finger hold will bear flat against the plate 10, which latter forms a stop for limiting the clamping movement of the finger hold. It will thus be seen that the operator need not exercise any special care in moving the cam devices to clamping position since he will know that as soon as thefinger hold strikes the plate 10, the said devices will be in clamping position.

It will be seen particularly from Fig. 6, that each standardreceives and contacts at a point between the two thicknesses of wire which constitute the coil. As a consequence, these coils form a cam which has a spiral groove on its face, hence, as the bar is turned the cam grooves of the two coils will force the bars 3'laterally toward each other as well as outward, thus binding the coils and the clamping plate upon the standards 3 by a movement in two directions. I have found in practice that this binding action is extremely effective, far more so than a mere binding action in one direction, such as would be secured by cams mounted upon the bar 16.

While I have shown as the preferred form of my device a wire, 16, which is coiled in order to form projecting portions adapted to engage the standards and to force them rearwardly and laterally, I do not wish to be limited to this, as it is obvious that the bar 16 might have these projecting portions formed in other Ways, and achieve the same result.

While I do not wish to be limited to the construction shown in Fig. 1, I have shown a series of permanent division leaves 19, between which letters and other documents may be filed, these division leaves being made, of course, of relatively heavy stock so as to retain the papers between them when the clamping plate is clamped into position.

It will be seen that my device is simple,

that it is quickly operated, that it is positive in its clamping action and that it may be cheaply made.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and-desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. I11 a filing device, the combination of a base having a pocket, a standard mounted thereon and having a laterally-extending member at its lower end engaging in the pocket, a clamping plate movable along the standard and cooperating with the base for holdingileaves or the like, a cam clamping means on the plate arranged to engage the.

hold loose leaves or the like, a clamping device mounted .on the plate to engage the standard, and a swinging handle connected with thedevice and arranged to bear on the plate when the device is in clamping position, said plate forming a stop to limit the locking movement of the handle.

3. In a filing device, the combination of a base, a clamping plate cooperating with the base for'holding loose leaves, a standard secured to the base and extending loosely through the plate, a bar on the plate,means on the plate forming bearings for the bar, a cam device mounted on and extending from one side of the bar to engage the standard for clamping the plate in position, and a swinging handle connected with the cam device for operating the same and extending laterally from the side of the bar opposite from the cam device, said handle being arranged to bear on the plate when the device is in clamping position.

1. In a filing device, the combination of a base, a clamping plate cooperating with thebase to hold a plurality of loose leaves,

movable on the standards and retained thereon by the base and cross-bar, said cross bar serving to hold the standards rigidly in spaced relation and forming a handle for the device, and clamping means on the blade arranged to engage the standards for holding the plate in position to clamp the leaves between the base and plate.

5. In a filing device, the combination of a base, a plurality of standards thereon, a single plate slidably connected with all the standards and (arranged to cooperate with the base for clamping the leaves, and a wire structure carried by the plate and formed with cam portions for engaging the standards and formed with a swinging handle for moving the cam portions into and out of engagement with the standards to hold the plate in clamping position, said plate forming a stop for limiting the locking movement of the handle.

6. A filing device having a base, upwardly projecting standards on the base, a clamplng plate having slots through which said standards pass, and a clamping element mounted on the plate having opposed pairs of rotatable spiral coils adapted to en age with the standards and on a rotation o the element to bind against the standards in one direction and to wedge against the standards in relatively opposite directions.

7 A filing device having a base, upwardly extending standards on the base, a clamping plate having slots through which the standards pass, a rotatable clamping element mounted on the plate having projecting cam portions thereon, said cam portions having a spiral groove upon their faces opposed in direct-ion to each other, the cam portions being so arranged upon the bar that the said groove will engage with the standards upon a rotation of the clamping element and that the projections will therefore wedge against the element in opposite directions to each other, and a swinging handle on the element arranged to bear fiat against the plate when the element is in clamping position.

8. A filing device having a base, upwardly projecting standards on the base, a clamp ing plate composed of two thicknesses of metal having downwardly bent edges, the upper thickness of metal bein formed with an upwardly extending channe both of said plates bein formed with opposed slots, and said channe having cut-away portions alining with these slots, a rotatable clamping bar carried in said channel having projections extending through the cut-away portions of the channel and adapted to be engaged with said standards, said clamping bar having an outwardly projecting end forming a finger hold whereby the bar may be turned.

9. A filing device having a base, upwardly extending standards on the base, a clamping plate composed of two thicknesses of material, the upper thickness being formed with an upwardly projecting longitudinal channel, said clamping plate also having slots through which the standards pass, and the channel being cut away in alinement with said slots, a rotatable clamping bar mounted in the channel and having eccentric coils projecting out of the cut-away portions of the channel, said coilsbeing adapted to engage the standards, and a finger hold upon the end of said rotatable clamping bar, said channel being cut-away to allow the projection of said finger hold.

10. A filing device having a base, upwardly extending standards joined by a cross bar at their upper ends and having right-angularly bent portions at their lower ends contacting against the upper face of the base, and a retaining strip attached to the face of the standards and extending acgoss the angularly-bent ends of the standar s.

11. A filing device having a base, an upwardly extending standard, a paper holding member shiftable on the standard, and a swinging clamp on said member having an eccentric projection thereon formed by a helical coil, said projection having a face adapted, when the clamp is rotated, to wedge outwardly and laterally against the standard.

12. A filing device having a base, an upwardly extending standard, a paper holding member shiftable on the standard, and a swinging clamp on said member consisting of a wire element formed with an operating handle and having an eccentric projection thereon adapted to wedge outward against the standard, said projection being formed upon its face with a spiral groove receiving the standard and adapted, when the bar is turned, to wedge laterally against the standard.

13. A filing device having a base, and an upwardly extending standard, a paper holding member shiftable on the standard, and a rocking clamping device on said member having a helical coil arranged eccentrically to the axis on which the device rocks to form a projection thereon adapted, when the device is turned, to wedge against the standard, the face of said projection being so formed that upon the turning of the bar it will wedge laterally against the standard.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto atfixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH WILSON.

Witnesses:

C. H. STONYER, R. HILL. 

